Most computing devices output text for display at a display device (such as a touchscreen). When a user of the computing device provides input to indicate selection of a portion of the text, the computing device can adjust what is output at the display device to indicate the selection (e.g., by highlighting the selected portion of the text). In some conventional systems, the input may be a sliding gesture that starts at a location on a user interface device (such as a trackpad, touchscreen, or other presence-sensitive input device coupled to the computing device) that corresponds to the first character in a series of characters comprising the portion of the text and terminates at a location on the user interface device that corresponds to the last character in the series of characters.
In some instances, a user wants to select a series of characters in order to perform an operation on the series of characters. For example, the user may want to select a series of characters in order to delete the series of characters, copy the series of characters, change the font or font size of the series of characters, or perform another operation on the series of characters. To assist the user in selecting a series of characters, handle elements may be displayed. The user changes which characters are selected by performing sliding gestures to drag the handle elements to appropriate positions. Because the characters may be small, it may be difficult for the user to accurately position the handle elements. Furthermore, in some instances, a user wants to change the position of a cursor so that the user can change where text is inserted or deleted. The user may change the position of the cursor by performing a sliding gesture to drag the cursor to the desired position. Because the cursor may be small, it may be difficult for the user to accurately reposition the cursor.